THE EDISTO RIVER, SOUTH CAROLINA. 623 
Total number taken ...... 2... 220 ce ecee cece ee cones cere com eee meee cece ee eee ee cre eee 4, 800 
Gross weight of sturgeon to net .....--. 2-26. eens cone nen e cone cece cone eneee --pounds.. 15, C00 
Net weight of sturgeon to net ...-.- 0 ceeeee eens cone ee ec cee e cece ee cnn e cee pounds.. 6,500 
Weight of roe to net .......-.----- acaiessieisteeiek abins Ge cede oes cis ee ca eeeeesos POURS 875 
Number of pounds of dressed sturgeon: ritkntell wipieewneeeodcumedcewe etree sebces ses 312, 000 
Value of same, at 7 cents per pound .........+......---- mete cone ceen cee rene en ee ences $21 840 
Number of pounds of roe (336 kegs, each 125 gunn) Ue Deus ulna ara ncraerais Giaipbicie staple 42 000 
Total value Of 106: io0- 6 occcccccmmececteeaseses scueaw eed ieduaawsie ween siemens enim stein $2 940 
Total value of the sturgeon trade of Savannah........---. --.--. ee cece eee cece ee neers $24, 780 
8. FISHERIES OF THE EDISTO RIVER, SOUTH CAROLINA. 
The Edisto River lies wholly within the limits of South Carolina, having its sources chiefly in 
the sandy belt. Its waters, being filtered through extensive tracts of swamp and low ground, are 
usually clear, even in seasons of high water, but always with a transparent brown tint from the 
infusion of vegetable matter. The tide ebbs and flows as high as the crossing of the railroad 
about 40 miles above its mouth. There are no obstructions, natural or artificial, in this river 
or in either of the main tributaries. At Orangeburg there are several “hack” and “fall” traps, 
which take some shad every season for local supply, but these do not invade the river channel. 
Rafting of timber is carried on extensively on the Edisto and its tributaries, and the active prose- 
cution of this industry upon this and other Southern rivers has exerted a conservative inflnence 
upon the fisheries by maintaining an open channel for the passage of fish. The shad fishery—the 
first in importance—has fallen off very much of late years, for reasons not clearly understood. The 
second and only remaining fishery of importance is that for the capture of sturgeon, which is prose- 
cuted in the mouth of the river, where the depth of the water and the width of the channel permit 
“drifting,” i. e., “floating of the net.” On March 6, 1880, we found quantities of sturgeon moving 
up the river 40 miles above the mouth. Indeed, they almost caused a close season for the shad 
fishermen by running in their nets and tearing them to pieces. 
Fishing for shad is prosecuted almost entirely with gill-nets. There are no fykes or pounds 
and only a single haul-seine, which is dragged 9 miles below the railroad crossing. This seine is 
worked by a crew of six negro men in the most improvident and careless way and to very little 
profit. 
The gill-nets have a 5-inch mesh and are made of No. 40 twine. They reach to the bottom of 
the river and are stretched from bank to bank. Whilst in the river they form as effective an ob- 
struction to the passage of the grown fish as if they were so many impassable dams. Fortunately 
for the fish, the waters of the Edisto are so clear that the nets are not set during the day, because 
the fish will not enter them. The nets are put out when the flood tide is three-fourths run, and 
stand until the ebb tide begins to run strong, when they must be taken up, lest the strength of the 
current should break the anchoring ropes. Consequently there is but one “laying out” or setting 
of the net in twenty-four hours, unless the ebb tide makes about sundown, when there is ebb again 
before sunrise. 
The height and length of the net is made to correspond with the breadth and depth of the 
river. On each bank is a round pole, to which'the end of the net is fastened. These poles are 
weighted with lead or other heavy material in order to keep them upright. To each pole is attached 
a “rope bridle.” The ropes are brought together and the ends securely fastened to stakes or 
trunks of trees on the shore, In no case are the nets set at a less distance than 300 yards apart. 
A State law prohibits their being placed nearer. 
